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Certification Courses

Virginia Land Title Association is the Commonwealth's only provider of title insurance industry certification courses. Our Virginia Certified Title Examiner (VCTE) and Virginia Certified Title Settlement Agent (VCTSA) courses reflect the statewide standard of excellence within the industry. As lenders are looking to verify the quality of third-party service providers, the VCTE and VCTSA are excellent signals that your staff is committed to high-quality continuing education! Settlement companies are strongly encouraged to engage the services of VCTEs and VCTSAs to ensure compliance.

Virginia Certified Title Examiner

VLTA is proud to announce the arrival of the Virginia Certified Title Examiner Online Course! The VCTE-Online will be available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year!

The Certification Course Process

The Virginia Certified Title Examiner course is a basic introduction to title examination in Virginia. Covering a broad base of Virginia laws and statutes related to title examination, processes, and basic underwriting, the course prepares a new examiner for training in the field and ensures that existing examiners have a comprehensive understanding of basic title examination. New title examiners are advised to seek additional hands-on training from an experienced examiner before conducting title examination in Virginia. This course entails 16.0 hours of online course work followed by a final exam integrated into the online platform. VLTA lists all certified examiners as preferred providers on its website, and strongly encourages all agents and underwriters to use only VCTEs.

The VCTE program is the only Virginia-specific training for title examiners.

Continuing Education: Virginia Certified Title Examiners are required to complete 16 hours of continuing education each biennium, ending in even-numbered years. VCTE Continuing Education courses are mid- and advanced-level courses designed to offer depth and insight into common problems faced by examiners; reduce claims; and provide resources for examiners to resolve issues. To learn more about VCTE Continuing Education, click here: Certification Continuing Education

Virginia Certified Title Settlement Agent

The Virginia Certified Title Settlement Agent™ course is the only formal instructional program available for title settlement agents in Virginia. VLTA developed the VCTSA course to promote higher standards and skills for title settlement agents to benefit the land title industry and real property consumers. Those who complete this course are awarded the VCTSA designation, a voluntary accreditation currently not required by Virginia law. Click here to take the course online.

This course has been approved for:

16 hours of CE (13 Title + 3 Law/Regulations)

16 hours of CLE (Title)

AGENTS: SATISFY ALL YOUR CE REQUIREMENTS IN ONE COURSE!

Students who complete the course and pass the final exam also earn the only universally accepted designation in title settlement in Virginia. NOTE: The Virginia Certified Title Settlement Agent course is an OPTIONAL course designed to offer advanced training to licensed title insurance agents & attorneys. This course DOES NOT count toward the mandatory 16-hour training course for the title insurance license. To learn more about Virginia licensing requirements, consult the Virginia Bureau of Insurance. The Title Insurance Pre-Licensing Course required to sit for the Title Insurance Licensing Exam is available here. If you're not sure which class to take, email us at [email protected]

Course Content

The VCTSA program is organized is a generally chronological approach. Covered topics include:

Real Estate Transactions and the Role of the Settlement Agent

Explaining the Deed and Owner's Affidavit

How to Become a Settlement Agent (RESA Registration Requirements)

Explaining FIRPTA

Three Sets of Instructions for the Settlement Agent to Follow: Sales Contract, Title

Commitment and Lender's Papers

Explaining the R-5 and 1099 Reporting

Pre-Closing Activities: Giving & Gathering Information

Processing the Information

Handling the Money

Closing Protection Letters

The Method and Authority to Sign for Oneself and On Behalf of Other Individuals and Entities